


Night Train

by CaliginousCandy



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Russian Roulette Chapter (Detroit: Become Human)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-09 20:29:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19893883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaliginousCandy/pseuds/CaliginousCandy
Summary: He isn't even sure how long he's been trailing after Hank like what he was, a tiny ghost. Just watching his father kill himself with grief and alcohol. Realizing Hank would never get better when the first day after turned into two and another and another; A slow and agonizing reality that Cole quickly realized was their future if something didn't change soon.





	Night Train

**Author's Note:**

> Cole is a funny kid, you guys. He doesn't care for sports, haha. But he likes jazz and dogs and robots. he's sweet, i like this version I came up with.  
> I did research for this ayyy. But I should know more about jazz than I do. It's an important part of cultural history that contributed to a lot of the music I enjoy and I gotta pay my respects. so, yeah. The link down there is to the song Cole is talking about. "the song with the piano" haha.

Cole falls to his knees and cries, exhausted from the immense effort needed to tip his father's chair enough that his own weight sent him to the ground. Sumo, long past used to not being able to smell or touch his boy, sits nearby. His doggy whimpers and whines play melody to Cole's sobs. Outside, the rain grows heavier. 

Another close call. Too close for comfort. At least Hank wouldn't keep spinning the barrel tonight. Was this all Cole had to look forward to until his father could be with him again? Even then, would they be going to the same place? Would Cole be trapped here? Father lost, Mother gone, all alone in the cold limbo of Detroit? 

He isn't even sure how long he's been trailing after Hank like what he was, a tiny ghost garnering sympathetic groans from the other apparitions drifting in the voids between this world and the next. Just watching his father kill himself with grief and alcohol. Realizing Hank would never get better when the first day after turned into two and another and another; A slow and agonizing reality that Cole quickly realized was their future if something didn't change soon. 

Cole hadn't gone to church very often, and he'd wondered why nobody wanted to help the bleeding and crying man at the front of the whole place. But he knew his mom used to call him a little angel, and his grandparents had called him a miracle baby. He remembers vaguely when the man at church taught them all about angels and miracles and God. He said God would help if he asked. Cole's been asking. 

All cried out, Cole and Sumo drift to the couch where Hank had left the TV on. Cole didn't want to watch his father sleep on the kitchen floor. Basketball again. Great. In the world of the living, the only thing that alleviated the boredom of watching a whole group of tall dudes squeak across the shiny wood flooring bouncing a ball around in some configuration lost to Cole was spending time with Hank. His dad could make _anything_ fun, that was Cole's belief. 

Well, he used to. Hank doesn't seem to have much fun these days. Cole sniffles some more and ignores the ongoing buzzer of the door. Not like he can open it. He's tried before. Cole remembered when he broke the previous pleasant _ding dong_ bell, and Hank had to put the temporary buzzy one in place. Then it got colder, and Hank never really got around to restoring it. 

The buzzer stops, and Cole feels himself begin to fade away for the night. Fading away a bit isn't so bad. It helps pass the time, like closing his eyes and sleeping. But also being awake. 

Then the window gets smashed, and Sumo rushes into the kitchen just in time for someone to fall to the floor from the window. Cole isn't scared for himself anymore, but Hank's vulnerable and unconscious. Sumo got there first, but there are no sounds of struggle. Cole peers into the kitchen. 

Oh! It's the cool robot from the police station! What's his name? Cole struggles to wake up. He gets hazy when he fades and forgets things. Like what day it is, and who he is. 

Connor! Android from CyberLife. Hank's new partner to catch bad robots! Right. 

"C'mere, Sumo! He's Dad's friend." Cole tells him. Sumo huffs a bit but backs off, and the two watch Connor pick Hank up off floor. Cole can't help laughing when he sticks Hank in the shower. 

Cole knows his father isn't a huge fan of androids. Even before he died, he remembers Hank being unsettled. 

"Those dead fuckin' eyes…" he'd murmur when he thought Cole wasn't around. He thought an android hurt Cole. 

He thought an android let Cole die. 

Cole watches Connor look around the house. Cole likes the way he moves, how he sidesteps things carefully and puts everything back the exact way they were. Cole knows androids absolutely can't see him or feel him the way some animals and humans can, but that doesn't stop him from chattering at Connor a little. Cole likes to talk, and he's been lonely. 

"That's Dad's favorite album, but he always played that one for Mom before she left," he says, pointing out the worn covers with Ella and Louis on them. He can just barely grasp the memory of his mother smiling at the first notes from Louis’ trumpet.

"But this one is my favorite," Cole carefully points out _Hot Pianos_. “I like the [song with the piano](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yQyjcpnx3g).”

Connor pets Sumo and steps into the kitchen where he picks up Hank's chair. With nothing better to do, Cole follows. 

"Robots can't eat, right? Do you want to? You were tasting the goop at that one guy's house--" Cole cuts himself off when Connor picks up his picture. Sometimes Cole himself knocks it over. He thinks he gets the same feeling his father gets when he looks at it. It reminds him of being at the hospital. He wasn't awake, but he remembers. And he hates it. 

Maybe Connor's feeling it, too, because his little light flashes like the android’s at the hospital. Cole wasn't supposed to be able to see, but the android did her best. She didn't hurt him, but he thinks she must have hurt herself. Red lights mean bad things, and when the beeping turned into one long beep, her little red light stopped spinning. 

Cole shudders, and Connor puts the picture frame back down on the table. 

“Okay,” Cole says. He shivers, cold on the inside, and says again, “Okay.” His father finally steps out of the bathroom, tall and unsteady. He says bye to Sumo, and Connor follows Hank out. Cole watches them leave, but he stays put. He doesn’t really want to go to another crime scene. He doesn’t want to watch his father stumble about drunkenly while the other cops laugh at him behind their hands. Cole knows his father used to be a great cop who helped a lot of people. But how can he help others when he can barely help himself?

Once again, Cole begs anything that would listen for help.

**Author's Note:**

> At first, this was going the "reincarnated into a dog" kind of way where Cole gets help from some entity or whatever and he gets turned into a puppy which Connor then adopts and it was supposed to be kind of HankCon shippy (cuz i fuckin like that shit) but everything went a different way.   
> It's okay


End file.
